Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said at her public swearing-in Monday that she wants to make the county a national model for health care reform, reducing homelessness, and providing a safe and caring community where children can thrive.
“I’m both humbled and happy to be back where my heart is--with all of you working together to make Multnomah County the best place it can be for those people who rely on us to keep our community healthy, safe and prosperous,” Kafoury said.
“One of the most important things I learned in nearly five years as a county commissioner is that results are most likely to happen when we work together and don’t care who gets the credit,” Kafoury told a standing-room-only crowd of about 150 people June 9 in the community room of the Midland Library branch.
Kafoury, who was officially sworn into office last week, also announced the appointments of Joanne Fuller as the permanent director of the county’s Health Department and Marissa Madrigal as the county’s chief operating officer.
“Both Joanne and Marissa will be invaluable assets when it comes to how I want our county measured--by results,” the chair said.
Kafoury was introduced by Joe McFerrin II, a fellow alum of Grant High School who remembered the chair with a smile from his basketball-playing days when she was a cheerleader with a “loud voice.”
“For the past 20 years, Deborah has put that voice to good use for our community,” said McFerrin, president/CEO of Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center. “I have complete confidence Deborah will continue to be a loud voice and an effective voice to move our community to be a place that we can all be proud of.”
Kafoury took her ceremonial oath of office from Multnomah County Presiding Judge Nan Waller, who praised the chair beforehand for her commitment previously as a county commissioner--and now as the county chair--to the replacement of the county’s central courthouse.
Kafoury won the election last month to fill the rest of the four-year county chair's term through 2014 and for the full four-year term starting in January 2015. After the previously elected chair resigned last year, Madrigal served as the interim chair.
Kafoury concluded her remarks by saying she plans to visit county departments and field offices over the next 30 days as part of her effort to be accessible throughout her term.
“I know we can’t achieve our ambitious goals just by talking about them,” she said. “We must take our conversations and make them into actions. And so I’m going to stop talking so that we can get out there and start doing.”